Fields of Desire: Poverty and Policy in Laos

Contents

Contents List of Maps viii List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgements ix Note on Transcription xiii 1 Introduction: Towards a Political Ethnography of Desire 1 2 Eat with You: Power as Nurturing and Devouring 24 3 The Mobility of the Marginal 44 4 Poverty becomes You: Black, White and Gold 69 5 Stories of State 86 6 Resurrecting the State: “The will and desire of the people” 106 7 The Participatory Poverty Reduction Project 125 8 Mutual Aid: Delirium and the Political Field 151 9 Conclusion: Fieldnotes from the Postrevolution 169 Notes 179 Bibliography 193 Index 204 vii ...